www.oscar.comIn mere seconds, Marion Cotillard went from being an unknown to "that French chick that ruined a thousand Oscar pools."

Well, folks, the results are in and I faired about as well as the majority of entrants in our Oscar contest, which is to say "not very." I went six for 10 in the categories counted for the contest (that would be best picture, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, director, adapted and original screenplay, and animated and documentary feature) plus one for two in the tiebreakers. (See the full list of winners here.)

At least I can take heart in the fact that, after sorting through all the contest ballots this afternoon, the categories that caused me trouble were the same ones that eliminated most of you. Those darn actress awards and the documentary feature category were definitely what separated the winners from the losers.

We'll be announcing the results of the contest in a story on Sunday's entertainment page, so keep an eye out for that.

Now, see, I had a feeling Cotillard was going to win. I kept reading interview after interview with Academy members who said they'd just seen her performance and thought it was amazing, that she wasEdith Piaf. But, no, I ignored my gut and trusted "Entertainment Weekly" (where I read most of those interviews) instead. Bah! The movie itself has gotten pretty middling reviews, so I don't think I'll be seeing it. Or maybe I'm just bitter.

I had the opposite problem here. EW called it for Tilda (I just noticed — her parents named her after one of these: ~) but I ignored their prediction and went with early favorite Amy Ryan. I did like Swinton in "Michael Clayton," and she did a great job in that humdinger of a finale. Good for her.

Again, why can't I just learn to trust EW? (Maybe because they messed up my pick for Best Actress?) My thought was that this would be the Academy's chance to recongnize Anderson since everyone figured the Coens were going to win Best Picture and Director. My thought was wrong. From what I've heard, though, saying Anderson "adapted" Upton Sinclair's "Oil!" is about as accurate as saying the Coens "adapted" "The Odyssey" when they made "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Hats off to both nominees for making great movies this year.